Case Mod Star Wars Old Republic Case Mods at Computex!

[aka_jesse]

Wow, those etchings are sweet. I would never have thought of something as cool as that!

[Combatus]

They look awesome Brian. Can't wait to see how they turn out, esp the light saber!

[Boddaker]

Thanks guys!

So our friendly neighborhood UPS man dropped off a box yesterday, and it's claiming to have life-altering properties...



Upon opening the box and extracting its contents, it looks to be two differently hued vessels with some sort of malleable substance inside each one. With the box's ominous inscription echoing in my head, I felt compelled to carefully bring the two substances together...


Well, nothing happened. Eventually getting over my thorough disappointment, I decided to continue modding. And that's when I realized I could use this stuff to form the masks that will adorn the side of the SWTOR cases.

I flattened it out to a consistent thickness of 1/4" on wax paper, then laid it over my foam structure.


After some shaping, molding, and general sculpting, I ended up with something that resembled a storm trooper mask.


Once it cures, I'll need to go over it with sand paper to smooth it out, then I'll hit it with some gloss white paint.

But I still don't feel any different than I did before opening the box. Perhaps they want me to file a million dollar lawsuit for false advertising. THAT would change my life! :P

[echo three]

Looking good so far, loving the holograms effect.

[Boddaker]

Thanks echo three.

With the Borderlands case pretty much complete, I could focus more on the Star Wars cases this weekend. I should be getting the airbrushed panels back from Steve this week, and I'm hoping to have everything ready to go on the cases by then. So I got the Sith mask made, as well as some work done on the front logos.

Making the frame, I started with the base and center spine.


Then added the ribs.


Filled the cavities with expandable foam.


While that was setting up, I started building the air inlets and other accoutrements.




After the foam cured, I shaved it down to the shape I wanted and glued the inlets on. For the red lights, I added two acrylic tubes with trim rings that will be lit from behind.


Mixed more epoxy putty up, then rolled it out to 1/4" thickness.


I took some time applying the putty, adding details and lines. Once cured, I'll go back and smooth things out. Then it will be ready for paint.

[Boddaker]

Got some lighting behind the front Jedi logo...

Using a 12" blue led strip underneath the outer ring. I added an 1/8" styrene stick around the edge for the led strip.



I removed the black mesh to show the white hex pattern below it, which fits the theme better. However, the logo is hard to see over it.


So I added a white circle cut from styrene sheet to give it a solid background.


Testing the lights. The led strip is so bright, it was bleeding through the 1/8" acrylic (!) so I painted the bottom.


Looks good to me! Time to glue everything down.

[Boddaker]

Less than a week to go, and still got a lot of work to do on these cases. I got all the airbrushed panels back from Steve, so I went straight to work assembling them. They look amazing!

Here's a shot of the Jedi mural on the case.


And now with the light saber in place.


And here's the Sith mural with light saber. Steve painted the background light sabers with a luminescent red by House of Kolor, so they pop out a lot more.



I also got some work done on the front of the Jedi case, mounting the crystal and wiring the lights.


I've got some black cloth behind the crystal so you can't see through to the inside.


And finally an overall shot. Coming together!


I really gotta get going on the masks next. They are taking the longest to complete. I still have to clean them up and get them painted, then mounted to the panel.

[SilveR_172]

Looking brilliant , like how its all coming alive now !

[Boddaker]

Cases have been shipped off to Tt this morning! I was scrambling to get them all done by today's deadline, so I couldn't stop and take pics, but there was mostly just small details and painting to take care of anyway. I did manage to snap a couple final shots before boxing them up so here ya go!








Here are some closer up shots of the masks I made for the window panel.








And here's a shot of all three cases together...


I didn't have time to get PSU's in and power them up, so we'll have to wait until Thermaltake sets them up at their booth at Computex to see how they look all lit up. I'll post those pics when I get them (or find them online somewhere).

[Boddaker]

Cool, my first ever double post!

[BLUEHORSESTUDIOS]

Kick-asssss

[IanW]

Now that was WORTH double-posting!

[kelmannen]

ok mr Bod, that just just KICKASS AWESOME!! to bad about the tight limit would love som closeups on those crystals i know bt aint made for advertisements but what's the name of the crystal making company and what did it cost to make those crystals? i can see awesome gift to my wife potential! She have a couple of crystals but none custom made, i didn't even know it could be custom made (i small numbers i mean, i guess you didn't make a 100 of each :P) if you dont want to write it in the thread van you please send me a pm?

Thanks.

[Boddaker]

Originally Posted by kelmannen

ok mr Bod, that just just KICKASS AWESOME!! to bad about the tight limit would love som closeups on those crystals i know bt aint made for advertisements but what's the name of the crystal making company and what did it cost to make those crystals? i can see awesome gift to my wife potential! She have a couple of crystals but none custom made, i didn't even know it could be custom made (i small numbers i mean, i guess you didn't make a 100 of each :P) if you dont want to write it in the thread van you please send me a pm?

Thanks.

Thanks kelmannen. The place I ordered the crystals is 3dlasergifts.com. They did a great job with mine, and the turn-around was phenomenal. After ordering I received both crystals in two days. I came across 3D Laser Gifts when I was in Las Vegas a few years ago, and have wanted to incorporate their product into a case mod ever since. These mods finally gave me the perfect application, and the result was way beyond my expectations.

[Squigly]

MOTM!!!! That is just phenomenal, and the "3D" light saber is a brilliant touch!!!

[bulldogjeff]

I've just been back and reread the whole log because I some how missed it all and it's all finished..WTF, so quick..lol
Have to say those cases look so different but both equally as good as each other. Top modding once again dude.
You're going to have to slow down a bit Brian, you're making the rest of us look bad.
Well done mate wicked builds.

[Kovoet]

unbelievable simply on another level. Well done

[Cheapskate]

They came out great -of course. Your work is approaching TheGreatSatan speeds lately. The only thing they lack is a big laser cannon on top.
I'm curious to see if the laser engravers could handle a 3d model now.

-Is there any info on the shelf life of that putty after you open it?

[Boddaker]

Originally Posted by Squigly

MOTM!!!! That is just phenomenal, and the "3D" light saber is a brilliant touch!!!

Thanks Squigly!

Originally Posted by bulldogjeff

I've just been back and reread the whole log because I some how missed it all and it's all finished..WTF, so quick..lol
Have to say those cases look so different but both equally as good as each other. Top modding once again dude.
You're going to have to slow down a bit Brian, you're making the rest of us look bad.
Well done mate wicked builds.

Thanks Jeff. I wish I could have slowed down for these, but the time constraints were insane. There were many things I wanted to add to the cases but had to scrap due to the deadline.

Originally Posted by Kovoet

unbelievable simply on another level. Well done

Thank you Kovoet.

Originally Posted by Cheapskate

They came out great -of course. Your work is approaching TheGreatSatan speeds lately. The only thing they lack is a big laser cannon on top.
I'm curious to see if the laser engravers could handle a 3d model now.

-Is there any info on the shelf life of that putty after you open it?

lol nobody can touch Ken in the speed modding dept.

As far as the putty, directions advise using it as soon as possible once the containers are opened. So it sounds like it's got a very limited shelf life lol. Interesting thing about this stuff, is that it's mass sensitive. Meaning the more material you use at one time, the less time you have to work with it. Pot life can range from 30 minutes for 1 1/2" thickness, up to 2 hours when rolled out to just 1/8" thickness. Seems backwards but I found out just how quickly a ball of the stuff can harden up lol. I had mixed too much of it the first time, and I had neglected to roll out the excess so it would last longer. Ended up with a rock inside of 15 minutes.

[Cheapskate]

oof. Sounds like I should stick with plaster; much slower to work with, but infinite shelf life.